Sky to open regular season on the road May 19 against Minnesota Lynx
Kahleah Copper is the only member of the Sky’s starting five under contract for the 2023 season.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
The WNBA’s 27th season and the Sky’s 18th tips off May 19 and it’s already going to be record-breaking.
Teams will play a 40-game schedule in 2023, the most in league history. The Sky’s campaign begins with two road games against the Minnesota Lynx May 19 at 7 p.m. and the Phoenix Mercury May 21, time TBD, before returning to Chicago for their home opener against the Washington Mystics on May 26 at 7 p.m.
“I want to start the season against whoever is the projected No. 1 team,” Kahleah Copper said before the schedule was released Wednesday afternoon. “The competitor in me, that’s who I want.”
After winning the 2022 WNBA championship with a core that is signed through the 2023 season, that No. 1 team is the Las Vegas Aces. Copper and the Sky will have to wait until June 11 before they get an opportunity to avenge their 1-3 record against the reigning champs, which included a 93-83 Commissioner’s Cup loss to Becky Hammon’s squad.
The June 11 game is the Sky’s lone road matchup against the Aces before hosting them July 25 and Aug. 24.
Coach/GM James Wade and his team won’t see a rematch of the 2022 semifinals until June 25 when they play the Connecticut Sun on the road in the first of four matchups between these two teams in 2023. The Sky concludes the regular season on the road against the Sun on Sept. 10. The Sun will be under the new leadership of Stephanie White after Curt Miller was hired by the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Sky will see Miller and the Sparks on the road earlier in the season on June 9th.
Other notable matchups for the Sky include one of their six Friday evening home games, June 3 against the New York Liberty who they eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Commissioner’s Cup break will be from Aug. 14-16, with the game scheduled for Aug. 15. The 10 designated Cup games will be played from the start of the season until July 12.
The 2023 All-Star Game is scheduled for July 15. A host city has not been determined yet. But after hosting the game in 2022, principal owner Michael Alter and the Sky have expressed interest to the league in hosting it again in 2023.
The Sky released their schedule on social media using popular album covers from 2022 edited with images of the team. Noticeably absent were Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Candace Parker who are all unrestricted free agents.
Wade said in a statement that the schedule release shows the potential greatness of their upcoming season. The roster that will help lead them to that greatness is still to be determined.
The league will release its broadcast and streaming schedule at a later date.